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Thirty-Six People Indicted in Nassau & Suffolk Heroin Ring that Operated along Rte.110

Six defendants, who allegedly sold heroin, charged with Operating as a Major Trafficker in “Operation Bundle Up”

MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that 36 people have been indicted for their alleged involvement in a heroin ring that operated along Rte. 110 in Nassau and Suffolk counties, marking one of the largest narcotics takedowns in Long Island history.

The majority of the individuals have been arrested and arraigned on various charges ranging from Operating as a Major Trafficker (an A-I felony), Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the 3rd Degree (a B felony), Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 3rd Degree (a B felony), Conspiracy in the 2nd Degree (a B felony) and Conspiracy in the 4th Degree (an E felony).

Five additional defendants were arrested today as a result of search warrants that were executed.

As a result of today’s search warrants, eights guns have been recovered including pistols, two shotguns and one AK-47 assault rifle, as well as substantial quantities of heroin and cocaine, and more than a dozen automobiles.

The arrests are the result of a nine-month-long investigation into local heroin distributors by the NCDA, the Nassau County Police Department, Suffolk County Police Department, New York State Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office.

District Attorney Madeline Singas said, “Drug dealing networks usually operate in the shadows and conduct their business behind closed doors, but this group allegedly counted cash, measured and packaged heroin in broad daylight, while parked in luxury cars on residential streets. We will not allow drug dealers to turn one of Long Island’s busiest thoroughfares in to a heroin highway. I thank all of our law enforcement partners for their outstanding work in this investigation, and for their commitment to confronting this epidemic with every tool at our disposal.”

Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter said, “Today’s arrests culminate an intense multi-jurisdictional investigation with the Long Island Heroin Task Force to eradicate drugs and those who sell them from our neighborhoods. These arrests should also serve as a reminder to criminals that we will use every legal means to apprehend offenders and bring them to justice. I would like to thank all of the law enforcement professionals and their associated agencies for their dedication and hard work during this investigation and congratulate everyone for a job well done.”

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Timothy D. Sini said, “The number of arrests, amount of drugs and illegal weapons taken off of our streets as a result of the warrants executed today is yet another blow to drug dealers in our region. These are exactly the accomplishments we envisioned when we created the Long Island Heroin Task Force. We will continue to diligently work together to take down drug dealers, because we know they, as well as the disease of addiction, do not recognize county borders. A message to those drug dealers who exact untold harm on our communities: if you are dealing drugs in this region, we are coming for you!”

DEA Special Agent in Charge James Hunt stated, “Heroin is more potent and deadlier now than it has ever been in New York. This organization was profiting off heroin’s potency by selling heroin bundles from locations, including hotels, along Route 110 that paved drug corridors to households in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.”

New York State Police Superintendent George P. Beach II said, “Thanks to the hard work and partnership of law enforcement at the state, federal and local level, we are taking out a large heroin trafficking operation that was supplying these dangerous drugs throughout the region. We will continue to aggressively pursue criminals who profit from illegal drugs at the expense of the safety and security of our neighborhoods.”

DA Singas said that, according to the 59-count indictment, Elvin Rosario, a/k/a Fling, 27, Reinardo Adames, a/k/a Tito, 28, and another indicted individual, are members of a drug distribution crew that supplied large quantities of heroin to 15 members of a group dubbed “The 110 Crew” by investigators. The three supplying defendants, known as the “Papis,” allegedly stored the drugs at homes in Farmingdale, Lindenhurst, West Babylon and Bay Shore.

According to the indictment, the Papis sold sleeves of heroin – which are ten bundles or 100 individual bags – to the 110 Crew.

The investigation is named “Operation Bundle Up” for the quantity of heroin bundles that were allegedly sold.

Members of the 110 Crew are allegedly members of the “Neez” gang, a subset of the notorious Bloods gang.

This group allegedly ran an elaborate narcotics operation, selling heroin in bundles to hundreds of customers a day along Route 110 outside of hotels, restaurants, gas stations, strip malls, name-brand retailers, coffee shops and other locations at all hours of the day.

These defendants allegedly sold to 18 individual resellers, who have no organizational connection to each other or their suppliers.

The Papis allegedly made hundreds of sales a week, sometimes earning as much as $8,000 during a seven-day period. It is estimated that the 110 Crew allegedly sold approximately 4,000 individual bags of heroin a week, which is worth approximately $40,000 to $50,000.

Six of the defendants are charged with Operating as a Major Trafficker, which carries a sentence of 15 years to life. Specifically, Rosario and Adames allegedly supplied large quantities of heroin and cocaine to other major traffickers here on Long Island – including Branden Harris, a/k/a Doughboy, Tashawn Combs, a/k/a Tata, Herman Monroe, a/k/a Chief, and Kenneth Nesmith a/k/a Nee – all of whom sold drugs daily to customers from Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

These dealers – as well as the other defendants charged in the indictment – allegedly cut, packaged and redistributed the narcotics for their own personal profit.